OT: Doc Rivers to Clippers

Ken Berger reports that the clippers and celtics have reached an agreement to release Doc out of his contract and to sign with the Clippers for a 3 year, 21 million dollar deal. The celtics would recieve a 2015 1st round pick. However for now it seems as if Kevin Garnett is to remain a celtic....for now

This is good news for the Clippers. Doc is a good coach. I'm not a Clipper fan, but I do hate the Lakers, so anything to help the Clips to steal a little of the limelight from the Lakers, is ok in my book.

This move was an attempt to appease Chris Paul so that he will want to re-sign with the Clippers. The Clippers kind of had to do it if they want to remain legitimate for the next few years. I am not really sure why the Celtics did it. Do they figure they aren't a contender anymore so they can go out and get a less "elite" coach and pay him less? If that is the case, why don't they start trying to get rid of washed up Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and a still valuable Rajon Rondo so that they can rebuild their roster. If they end up keeping those players but trading Rivers, it makes no sense at all for them as far as I can tell. A late 1st round pick in these pitiful drafts is not a good reason to trade one of the best coaches in the game.

How many guys drafted in the 1st round of last year's draft, especially the bottom 1/4 are worth of shit anyway? Late 1st round picks in the NBA are usually not very valuable these days. Hell, Cody Zeller will probably be picked in the top 13 picks and I wouldn't even want him on the Pistons roster.

But I think it's alright. Would have been better if they could have also traded Garnett for a younger body from the Clippers. This deal is essentially closing the door on the Paul Pierce era in Boston, which was likely already closed in the first place. In that sense, they traded a coach who was going to quit rather than just let him quit. So I think it makes perfect sense for the Celtics...

Oh, OK. I still think this is good for the Celtics. They were going to be a non-contender with a super expensive coach, who was gonna walk soon anyway. Now they can hire whoever they want while they rebuild, and they have an extra pick to do it with.

You're right, I'm sure, that he was mediocre, but surely a coach can improve with experience? I'm a casual NBA fan and don't know the Celtics that well, but Bill Simmons is a nut and die-hard, and he seems to think Rivers has really developed into a quality coach.

"One source with knowledge of the NBA's thinking told ESPN.com that the league does not intend to change its stance as expressed by Stern in multiple radio interviews Thursday, meaning that the league would view any subsequent trade agreement between the Celtics and Clippers involving Garnett to be part of the Rivers deal and thus in violation of league rules."

This also talks about the driving force behind this parting of ways as being, in part, Rivers' uncertainty that he could get himself prepared psychologically for a rebuilding period, from the sound of it. It also mentions that Danny Ainge had been trying to shop Paul Pierce and that Ainge is at least part of the push to use Rivers and Garnett to accumulate first-round talent.

Will be interesting to see how good a coach Rivers is without a strong veteran team. I've always been dubious of the guy's coaching ability without a fair number of stars around; saw too much finger-waving early on in his Boston tenure. Should be a massive upgrade over Vinny in LA, but I'm not pencilling in the Clips for a transformation.